THEN THE STORM CAME

No one ever wants to be in a storm. People generally believe that nothing good could ever come out of storms. This goes for physical storms and even more so for the unseen storms in our lives. But is this belief really true?

The answer to this question lies in an account in the Bible of the time when the disciples of Jesus went through a very dark storm themselves (Matthew 14:22-33). From this story, we will seek to understand why God allows storms in our lives and how we can have the victory that God meant for us over our storms.

STORMS IN OUR LIVES

The story begins with the disciples getting into a boat at night, as Jesus commanded them to. Unbeknownst to them, they were about to get caught in the middle of a mighty storm. But more than just stormy weather, their situation speaks of the kind of storms we can go through in life.

Storms are when we feel away from God.

“And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.” (Matthew 14:23)

Because Jesus had to stay to pray, His disciples had to go ahead of Him, alone. This speaks of circumstances when we feel we are alone even though we obeyed God’s instructions. It is when we can’t seem to hear God’s voice, when He doesn’t seem to answer our prayers, and when He doesn’t feel to be anywhere near us.

But even though Jesus was physically away from them, they were still in the perfect will of God. So just like this story, it is important to know that even if God chooses to be quiet, it is not an indication that we are not moving in the perfect will of God. Doing the will of God is much more important than feeling His presence. We do not need to rely on our feelings, but only upon the Word of God.

Scripture has given us the best example of this in Matthew 27:46 where Jesus was on the cross and He said “…My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” During those moments when all the sins of the world was put upon Him, Jesus Himself did not feel the presence of the Heavenly Father. But even then, we know that Jesus was exactly where God wanted Him to be at that time.

Storms are when trials come on every side despite obeying God.

“But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.” (Matthew 14:24)

There will be times that as we seek to fully obey God, we will encounter strong waves and winds coming against us. But these trials are not an indication that we are not in the perfect will of God. We have to realize that obeying the will of God is never about a smooth journey, but it is allowing God to see us through the storms and to reach the end victoriously.

Remember that God never promised that life will be easy when we follow Him. In fact, Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “…If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Storms are when we don’t seem to succeed despite trying so hard.

In John 6:19, it says that the disciples had rowed about three to four miles. Regardless of how hard they tried, they were not getting much traction because of the resistance from the winds. We can say the same for us as we try our best to move in the perfect will of God, it just seems that we are not getting any closer to God’s final destination.

BEING VICTORIOUS OVER OUR STORMS

But the story does not end there. Jesus didn’t command them to get into the boat to be destroyed in a storm. As the story unfolds, we see that Jesus gave them victory in the end. From here, we learn of the keys to be victorious over our own personal storms:

Hope that the perfect time will come when He will come and save us.

“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.” (Matthew 14:25-26)

In those times, Romans divided the night time into “watches” which is between 6PM to 6AM. The first watch is from 6PM to 9PM, the second is from 9PM to 12AM, the third is from 12AM to 3AM and fourth is from 3AM to 6AM.

Interestingly, Jesus came at the fourth watch which is the last. We can say that God seems to show up at an unexpected time or just when we are at the end of our ropes. But when He shows up, He is never late.

God knows exactly the right moment when to make His presence felt.

If you are in the middle of a situation right now and still waiting on God, be assured that He will come at the exact moment you need Him. Storms in life are not meant to last forever. They also have an end.

Believe and rejoice that Jesus is still more powerful than the storms in our lives.

When Jesus showed up to His disciples, He was walking on water. This tells us that He is above the waves and above the storms. Our God is above every difficult situation we may be experiencing today.

And as He came, He told them to rejoice even in the midst of the storm. “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.’” (Matthew 14:27) When we are in the midst of trials, a cheerful attitude is what God wants to see in all of us.

Let us rejoice that our God never sinks in storms. Jesus also said in Psalm 18:11 that “He made darkness His secret place…” Thus, we can also rejoice because even when we are in darkness that we can’t seem to see Him, He is still there.

Draw near to God even if it means going out of your comfort zone.

When the disciples heard that it was Jesus coming towards them, Apostle Peter said a very interesting statement… “And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

Apostle Peter was a fisherman, and as one, the boat was his comfort zone. The boat should have been the safest place for him during the storm.

Isn’t it puzzling that he asked Jesus to command him to come out of the boat instead of asking Jesus to come into their boat? But Peter did so because he had faith. He believed that through Jesus Christ he can also be above the waves.

It is vital to note that Peter only got out of the boat upon clearly hearing the word of God. If we have not heard any instructions from God, we should not presume to be doing mighty things for God or even to step on to the waters and walk on it.

Instead, what we need is the boldness to ask the Lord to command us to get out of our own comfort zones so that we can be where He is.

When the Lord Jesus said “come,” Jesus believed that it is possible for Peter to draw near. There may be times in our lives that we find it hard to draw near to God, yet God is inviting us to come for He knows that it is possible for us to draw near to Him.

James 4:8 says: “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...” God is not satisfied to meet us just where we are at today. He wants us to go forward so that we may be nearer to Him.

Fix our eyes on God and not on the waves.

“But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:29-33)

When we are in the process of obeying God, our eyes have to be consistently fixed on God. For when we take our eyes off Jesus, we will begin to see the troubles around us.

But even though Peter failed in this test of faith, Jesus still reached out and saved him. This is the love of God, that He would still stretch His hand out and reach us in our moment of failure, when our faith is running low. God continues to believe that one day we will have this faith perfected in us for He is the Author and Finisher of our faith.

CONCLUSION

The story ends in a miraculous victory. “Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going” (John 6:21). In a moment, they got to their destination.

From this story, we learn that storms are truly not meant by God for our destruction. Quite the contrary. Through this storm, the disciples’ faith was strengthened.

They needed such faith as they themselves would be facing even stronger battles that would take much faith to overcome. Certainly, storms are meant by God to bring us even closer to victory that we could not have in any other way.